Thank you for volunteering with Step Out and giving your time to support young people. In this section you will find ideas of what you can do with young people during your sessions, a list of our library resources that you can borrow and use. Plus there are copies of all the forms that you will need. The content here will be updated as we all share our ideas with each other and as we come out of lockdown.

Explore your local parks

  • Burgess park- it has two great cafes, a lake, BMX track and lots of hills and wooded areas. There is also the secret World Garden to explore.
  • Brunswick park- great little cafe(does amazing brownies), tennis courts, football pitch, and a small art gallery
  • Lucas Gardens- Just off Camberwell Road, very small but peaceful.
  • Ruskin park- outdoor table tennis, large football pitch, often has live music, fitness bars, small cafe near playground
  • Brockwell park- massive park, quite hilly. Has two cafes, waterplay area, ponds, BMX track.
  • Lettisom gardens- This is a private park which we have the key for, inside is a wooded area, lots of den making, rope swings and sports pitch. Make sure you have more than one adult  with you as this isnot a public park.
  • Myatts Field park- this is a gorgeous park, with a cafe, beehives, wooded area, outdoor table tennis, basketball pitch, plus live music.
  • The Horniman Museum Gardens are lovely to walk around. They also have a city farm there so you may see some animals.

Food

Food is a great way to get to know your mentee. There are so many options in London so here are afew options.

  • Each month try a different cuisine from another country.
  • Go to Borough market and try all the freebies they offer.
  • Go and buy a fruit from a local marjet that you have no idea what it is.(Brixton mrket is great for this)
  • festive eating-e.g- at Chinese new year try dome Dimsum.

Interesting walks

  • River thames beach walk- near Vauxhall bridge there is a bit of beach that you can get down to- its great to relax and watch boats, or search what you can find in the pebbles. 
  • Walk to tower bridge in the evening- this can take 45minutes but its lovely to see the lights of London at night
  • Outdoor Art walk- there are plenty of public pieces of art from grafitti to public sculptures. try www.the-line.org as an example.
  • Vauxhall City Farm has some open paddocks so you can go along and see some horses, sheep and lamars for free.

Adventureous

  • Take part in a treasure trail-there are many you can buy online or create your own. Dulwich park, Battersea Park and Brixton Market have one- check out www.treasuretrails.co.uk
  • Visit a free skatepark- there is one on Stockwell and at The Southbank Centre
  • Create a rope swing- we have some rope at the Youth Room- find a big tree, google how to tie the right knot and away you go. Remeber to take it down afterwards.

Make and Create

  • create your own board game
  • paint some pebbles/ stones with messages on and leave them around the community spaces.
  • Check out the Woodland Trust for some great ideas for outdoor themed activities during lockdown. www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
  • We have plenty of arts and craft resources for you to use. 
  • Lego Challenge- we have a large box of lego, challenge each other to create the teallest tower-

    www.littlebinsforlittlehands.com/lego-challenge-calendar-ideas-kids/

On screen

  • Pokemon Go- this is an interactive way of using your phones to find hidden Pokemon around town.
  • Do a cook along on zoom
  • Geocaching- this is a free app which directs you to find hidden treasure in your area.

Relaxing

  • Grow a plant together- gardens centres are still open so go and buy some seeds and pots. Sunflower seeds are a great option- see who can grow the tallest.
  • Draw together- nothing better than drawing outside.
  • Walking along the river is very soothing, watching the London lights turn on at night, listening to the buskers on the southbank is a great free show.
  • Sculpt each others heads- we have air drying clay for you to use. Then paint it in the following weeks.

Outdoor sports

  • Outdoor table tennis in lots of parks
  • Roller skating and cycling- we have some roller skates and bikes that you can borrow
  • Tennis- you may need to book a course for this.
  • Football- loads of cages around and open grass in parks. We also have a pop up goal if you need.

Places to visit

  • Sky Gardens- book free tickets to visit a rooftop garden. www.skygarden.london  You will need to book in advance.
  • London Wetland Centre- nature reserve.
  • National maritime museum in Greenwich.

Hundreds more ideas for mentoring sessions.

Click on this link for a list of great ideas from all of our past and present mentors.

Library of resources

Here is a list of the resources we have available for you to use during your mentoring sessions. Please arrange in advance of needing them so we can make sure they are available.

  • Roller skates
  • skateboards
  • bikes
  • boxing gloves and pads
  • bowls set
  • footballs/ pop up goal
  • basketballs
  • swingball
  • rounders
  • archery set
  • Frisby
  • bongo drum
  • large box of lego
  • popcorn machine
  • chess board
  • jenga
  • card games
  • jungle speed
  • Articulate
  • Colour catch
  • top trumps
  • pens and pencils
  • paper/card
  • clay
  • paints
  • small canvas
  • notebooks
  • material
  • oil pastels
  • slime
  • very large role of white paper

Forms you may need

Here you will find copies of all the forms that you will need. 

Weekly Report form- please complete this after each mentoring session and return it to your mentoring co-ordinator.

Expenses form- Please fill this in and attach any receipts you have by the end of each month.

Safeguarding concern form- if you have any concern about your mentee, however small please make sure you contact your mentoring co-ordintor and fill out this form.

Accident report form- If you or your mentee has an accident and hurts themselves during your session please fill this in and report it to your mentoring co-ordintor.